U2 Federal Bureaucracy flashcards

Key vocabulary terms and definitions related to the structure, functions, and processes of the United States federal bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy

A large, complex organization of appointed officials; it includes all of the agencies, people, and procedures through which the federal government operates.

Bureaucrat

Someone who works in the bureaucracy.

Cabinet department

One of $15$ high level executive branch organizations that help the president run the country (example: department of defense).

Independent agencies

An executive agency that is not part of a cabinet department; in most cases the president appoints the head of the agency but cannot fire that person.

Regulatory commissions

An agency of the executive branch that controls some part of the economy.

Government corporations

A government agency that performs services that a private company probably would not provide (for example, Tennessee Valley Authority provides electricity to Appalacia, a poor, mountainous region of the east).

Government by proxy

Federal services that are not actually performed by federal employees but by private contractors or state and local employees.

Regulation

A government rule that guides the operation of a government program, or in a different context, when the government intervenes in the economy to promote policy (for example, raising taxes on steel coming from China to discourage American companies from buying Chinese steel).

Fine

Monetary (money) penalty a wrongdoer must pay.

Iron triangle

An alliance among an administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee, where each member provides key services, information, or policy for the others.

Issue network

A network that includes policy experts, media pundits, congressional staff members, and interest groups who regularly debate an issue.

Civil service/competitive service

A system where employees of the government are selected and advanced based on merit, not on connections.

Merit System

Being hired or promoted based on your abilities, not based on your political connections.

Political Patronage

A situation in which a person is rewarded for supporting a particular politician, such as campaigning or voting for them, which can sometimes include the exchange of money for political support.

Incrementalism

The slow but steady increase in costs of programs over time because of inflation and increases in wages of bureaucrats; another definition is the slow, gradual change in policy rather than sudden sharp change.

Deregulation

Decreasing the amount of regulation; generally favored more by the Republicans.

Administrative discretion/discretionary authority

Decision-making power given by Congress to agencies in making rules to carry out the laws Congress has enacted, because Congress lacks the time or expertise to make sure every law is being followed.

Rule-making

The process agencies go through to make regulations.

Policy Implementation

Putting the plan into action.

Oversight

The process by which Congress reviews the operations of an agency to determine if the agency is carrying out the policies Congress intended.